A steady stream of Denver City workers on Wednesday blasted a proposed rule change that would make it easier to lay off city workers, regardless of their seniority. At a public hearing before the cities’ Career Service board, one city employee called the proposed change to Career Service Rule 14 a “betrayal” while another termed the potential change a “slap in the face.”
Another said if the rule change is passed, it would create a Hunger Games-type scenario with city employees doing all they can to avoid being laid off.
Citing Denver’s expected $200 million deficit in 2026, the city’s Office of Human Resources executive director, Kathy Nesbitt, this month proposed altering city personnel rules that provide job protection and seniority privileges for long term city workers.
Mayor Michael Johnston has said he supports the rule changes that would impact which city workers are laid off to deal with the projected budget deficit. City administrators said Wednesday they should know the size and scope of the layoffs by mid-August. Denver has about 10,000 employees covered by career service rules…